What is vitamin  b12 ?
Vitamin B₁₂, also known as cobalamin, is a water-soluble vitamin involved in metabolism. It is one of eight B vitamins. It is required by animals, use it as a cofactor in DNA synthesis, in both fatty acid and amino acid metabolism.

Vitamin B12 is an essential vitamin found in meat, fish, and dairy foods. It can also be made in a lab and is often taken with other B vitamins. Vitamin B12 is required to function and develop many parts of the body, including the brain, nerves, and blood cells.

How Much to Get?
The answer depends on things including your age, your eating habits and medical conditions, and what medications you take.

The average recommended amounts, measured in micrograms (mcg), vary by age:

• Infants up to age 6 months: 0.4 mcg
• Babies age 7-12 months: 0.5 mcg
• Children aged 1-3 years: 0.9 mcg
• Kids age 4-8 years: 1.2 mcg
• Children age 9-13 years: 1.8 mcg
• Teens age 14-18: 2.4 mcg (2.6 mcg per day if pregnant and 2.8 mcg per day if breastfeeding)
• Adults: 2.4 mcg (2.6 mcg per day if pregnant and 2.8 mcg per day if breastfeeding)

Why vit b12 is important ??
Vitamin B12 is not a naturally occurring nutrient in plant-based foods. Hence vegans and vegetarians are at an increased risk of developing deficiency disorders if they don’t complement their dietary routine with vitamin B12 supplements.

Our body needs cobalamin (mineral cobalt) for:

• DNA synthesis
• creating new red blood cells
• protein and fat metabolism
• neurological/brain functions

Cobalamin is naturally found in foods like fish, dairy products, meat, and especially the beef liver. This vitamin is extremely important for synthesizing blood cells and ensuring

Vitamin B12 assists in cognitive skills such as memory, concentration, and comprehension. Without enough B12, you may suffer memory loss, depression, anxiety, and difficulty concentrating. Heart health! Vitamin B12 controls the level of homocysteine in your blood, a protein associated with heart attack and stroke.

DEFICIENCY OF VITAMIN B12:
You may also be more likely to develop vitamin B12 deficiency if you have:

• Atrophic gastritis, in which your stomach lining has thinned
• Pernicious anaemia, which makes it hard for your body to absorb vitamin B12
• Conditions that affect your small intestines, such as Crohn’s disease, Celiac disease, bacterial growth, or a parasite
• Alcohol misuse or heavy drinking can make it harder for your body to absorb nutrients or prevent you from eating enough calories. One sign that you lack enough B12 may be glossitis, or a swollen, inflamed tongue.
• Immune system disorders, such as Grave’s disease or lupus
• Been taking certain medications that interfere with the absorption of B12. This includes some heartburn medicines including proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) such as esomeprazole (Nexium), lansoprazole (Prevacid), omeprazole (Prilosec OTC), PANTOPRAZOLE (Protonix), and rabeprazole (Aciphex), H2 Blockers such as cimetidine (Tegamet) and famotidine (Pepcid AC); and certain diabetes medicines such as metformin (Glucophage).

You can also get vitamin B12 dificiency  if you follow a vegan diet (meaning you don’t eat any animal products, including meat, milk, cheese, and eggs) or you are a vegetarian who doesn’t eat enough eggs or dairy products to meet your vitamin B12 needs. In both of those cases, you can add fortified foods to your diet or take supplements to meet this need. Learn more about the different types of vitamin B supplements.

 

Pregnant or New Mom?
Are you a pregnant woman on a vegan or vegetarian diet, and plan to only breastfeed your baby? You should talk to your doctor before you have your baby so that you have a plan in place for how you’ll get enough vitamin B12 to keep your baby healthy.

Without enough vitamin B12, your baby could have developmental delays and not thrive and grow as they should.

Symptoms of Vitamin B12 Deficiency
If you have a vitamin B12 deficiency, you could become anaemic. A mild deficiency may cause no symptoms. But if untreated, it may lead to symptoms such as:

• Weakness, tiredness, or light-headedness
• Heart palpitations and shortness of breath
• Pale skin
• A smooth tongue
• Constipation, diarrhoea, loss of appetite, or gas 
• Nerve problems like numbness or tingling, muscle weakness, and problems walking
• Vision loss
• Mental problems like depression, memory loss, or behavioural changes 

VEGITARIEN SOURCES OF VITAMIN B12

Dairy products

Eating dairy products is one of the simplest ways to get enough vitamin B12 in a vegetarian diet.

The office of Dietary Statistics Trusted Source lists the B12 content in the following dairy products:

• 1.2 micrograms (mcg) in 1 cup of low-fat milk, or 50% of your Daily Value (DV)
• 1.1 mcg in 8 ounces of low-fat yogurt, or 46% of your DV
• 0.9 mcg in 1 ounce of Swiss cheese, or 38% of your DV

Try having yogurt with your breakfast, milk as an afternoon drink, and a few slices of cheese as a snack.

Fortified foods

Foods fortified with vitamin B12 can help you meet your daily intake requirement. These are readily available sources of B12 with high bioavailability for vegetarians and vegans. Fortified breakfast cereal is a great choice. Cereals often contain 25% of the DV per serving, though this varies between brands. Read the packaging to determine whether your favourite healthful breakfast cereal had added B12.

Fortified foods are typically easy for your body to digest, which means they have high bioavailability. This helps the body get vitamin B12 more easily.

Nutritional yeast

Another fortified food that contains vitamin B12 is nutritional yeast. This is a go-to food for many vegetarians and vegans. Along with its nutritional benefits, nutritional yeast provides a depth of flavour to cooking. Many use nutritional yeast to add a cheesy or nutty flavour to foods. One tablespoon of 100%-fortified nutritional yeast provides a 2.4 mg of vitamin B12 or 100% of the DV.

Try adding nutritional yeast to vegetarian sauces, chilis, or curries. For a healthful snack, sprinkle nutritional yeast on air-popped popcorn.

Nori

One  touts nori, also called purple laver, as a good source of vitamin B12. This algae product is commonly eaten in Asian countries. The study recommends eating 4 grams of dried nori to meet the daily requirements for vitamin B12 intake. You may find this product in Asian food markets or shop it online. It is used in sushi and maybe a healthy and simple snack on its own.

Shitake mushroom

Like nori, some mushroom, including shitake, contain vitamin B12. The levels are relatively low, however. You would need to consume about 50 grams of dried shitake mushrooms to meet your daily requirements of vitamin B12.

While you wouldn’t want to regularly eat that many mushrooms in one sitting — and it’s best to vary your sources of B12 anyway — they make a good option for those who like fungi. Try adding mushrooms that contain B12 into your cooking for a tasty lunch or dinner for an extra B12 boost.

 SOME MORE SOURCES OF VITAMIN B12 ARE AS FOLLOWS:

1. ALMOND MILK:
Almonds items or products contain vitamin b12. Nuts, almonds, and the highest item containing vitamin b12 is cereals ready-to-eat, Honey Bunches of Oats, with almonds.

2. SOYAMILK:
The average amount of vitamin b12 contained in 100g of soya milk is 0.78 ug of vitamin b12.

3. NUTRITIONAL YEAST:
Consuming nutritional yeast can be an effective way to prevent vitamin B12 deficiency while on a vegan diet. The nutritional yeast contains 5 mcg of vitamin B12 per tablespoon, which is slightly more than double the daily recommended amount for adults

4. COCONUT MILK:
The basic type of coconut milk is Puddings, coconut cream, dry mix, regular, prepared with 2% milk, where the amount of vitamin b12 in 100g is 0.26 ug. 0.26 ug of vitamin b12 per 100g, from Puddings, coconut cream, dry mix, regular, prepared with 2% milk corresponds to 4% of the vitamin b12 RDA.

5. MARMITE:
Marmite is a very dark, concentrated paste. It’s high in vitamin B12. Marmite has been around since 1902 and was originally used as a way to improve the health of soldiers during World War I.

6. FORTIFIED SNACK BARS:
Vitamin B12 Rich Snacks. Where the amount of vitamin b12 ranges from 13.57 ug to 0 ugs per 100g. The top snack is Formulated bar, SNICKERS Marathon Double Chocolate Nut Bar with the highest vitamin b12 content, which is 100g contains 13.57 ug of vitamin b12. The total recommended daily allowance or RDA for vitamin b12 is 6 ug.

7. FORTIFIED VEGAN CEREAL:
Several vegan breakfast bowls of cereal are fortified with vitamin B12. Quaker Puffed Rice Cereal is fortified with B12. According to ChooseVeg “Total Corn Flakes, Malt-O-Meal Bran Flakes, Rice Chex Kellogg’s All-Bran, and many varieties from General Mills” are also fortified.

8. HEMP MILK:
Hemp milk available commercially is usually fortified with vitamin B12. It is a good source of this vitamin.

9. SWISS CHEESE:
Cheese is also a rich source of vitamin B12. One large slice (22 grams) of Swiss cheese can contain about 28% of the DV. Concerning this, how much b12 is in a slice of cheese? Besides the above, which cheese has the most b12? Swiss cheese is higher in vitamin B12 than other cheese, providing about 14% of the daily value per ounce.